1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed and taught herein relate generally to kinetic energy recovery systems, and more specifically, are related to the recovery of kinetic energy from natural gas production well heads or geothermal sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional systems for generating electricity for consumption and use by the public include nuclear power, fossil fuel powered steam generation plants and hydroelectric power. Operation and maintenance of these systems is expensive and utilizes significant natural resources and in some cases results in excessive pollution, either through hydrocarbon combustion or spent nuclear fuel rod disposal. Oil is often considered to be a non-renewable source of power, which leaves non-petroleum producing countries at the mercy of those which produce petroleum.
Nuclear power, while useful, also has its problems. Currently, nuclear material is mined from the earth, refined and then utilized in a nuclear power plant. Sufficient amounts of Uranium-235and/or plutonium are confined to a small space, often in the presence of a neutron moderator. The subsequent reaction produces heat which is converted to kinetic energy by means of a steam turbine and then a generator for electricity production. Nuclear power currently provides about 17% of the United States electricity and 7% of global energy. The cost for bringing a nuclear power plant on line, at last estimate, is approximately $10-30Billion.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for generating clean electrical power cheaply without relying upon the import of petroleum materials or building of multi-billion dollar power plants.
Wellhead gas has been considered to be a potential, partial solution to the issue. Wellhead gas is generally comprised of a mixture of a number of gases and is vapors, including nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), iso-butane (C4H10), n-butane (C4H10) and iso-pentane (C5H12); and small quantities of entrained water, all obtained as by-products of gas and oil field production operations at the well heads. Wellhead gas is particularly rich in methane gas (75-95mol %), includes appreciable quantities of ethane (3-8mol %) and propane (0.5-5mol %), and as a moisture-free mixture has a heating value of 1400-2000Btu per cubic foot. For new gas or oil wells the utilization of wellhead gas has a rather low economic attractiveness because of the relatively low quantity of such gas with respect to the high value gas and liquid petroleum products directly produced from such new wells. As wells mature the utilization of wellhead gas is an increasingly important factor in the economic decision to continue gas and oil production.
Several attempts over the years have been made to harness the wellhead gas prior to its further upstream processing, generally by drawing a portion of the gas stream off of the fluid transfer lines to run internal combustion engines, or associated wellhead machinery. However, this is not an optimal solution as it decreases the profitability of the hydrocarbon production from the wellhead. Thus, while an attractive solution, the approaches to date have been unfulfilling.
The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to systems, methods and the associated apparatus to extract kinetic energy from the high pressure fluid flow of wellhead gases or fluids during their transfer process, without directly using any significant portion of the wellhead fluid, or modifying the wellhead fluid. Such kinetic energy may then be converted to work energy, which can then be used for a variety of applications, sent on to a power grid, or the like.